


Written Within The Margins

by TheLadyJ



Category: Actor RPF, American Actor RPF
Genre: Coffee Shops, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and stuff, Original Story - Freeform, Roller Coasters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-12
Updated: 2013-06-12
Packaged: 2017-12-14 19:05:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/840322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLadyJ/pseuds/TheLadyJ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All he wanted to do was talk to the author of a book he read about maybe making a movie. All she wanted, was to survive teaching a class she never expected to have to teach. </p><p> </p><p>They both got a little more than they bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Written Within The Margins

**Author's Note:**

> **holds breath** I typically stick to slashy fanfiction but this story idea grab hold in my head and wouldn't leave me alone till I wrote it. 
> 
> I posted it under anon on tumblr on the Chrisevans-sexualfrustrations page but I'm coming out of hiding and posting it here. I was a chicken shit for posting anon and it still makes me mad that I did it. 
> 
> Anyway, read and leave me a comment. I'm still scared to post this but oh well. I wrote it and I love it so if anything, I'm posting it for my own personal desires. I will not hide my writing away because of what I've written.

Chris sat in the class waiting for the teacher he so desperately needed to speak with to arrive. The class was set to start in less than a minute. He had hoped to talk to the woman before the class started so that he could be in and out and not have to linger, but luck was not on his side. It hadn’t been on his side the entire time.

He had been trying to find this woman since he had finished reading her book. He had finally decided to hunt her down instead of waiting for her publishing company and editor to get back to him. He had been trying for a little over three months and finally after closed doors and red tape, he had decided to go on a google search of the author. Renna James, it said in her bio in the back of her book, was an English teacher at a university in Boston. That small amount of info had been all he needed to find her.

Without warning a person slid passed the open door, catching the frame with an arm and propelling herself into the room. The well dressed woman slid passed the teaching podium just as a bell rang. The whole class was silent as the small red head let out a shriek and came to a stop just shy of the wall opposite the door.

“Dear god,” she said more to herself than the class, “I have really gotta stop doing that.” She dropped her heels on the floor and pulled her dark blue jacket off. “If anyone sees my heart rolling around on the ground, just dust it off and hand it back to me. I think I dropped it on the way in.” The woman said this with a straight face and Chris let out a bark of laughter. He should be ashamed of how hard he laughed, but he was used to being the only one that laughed at things. The lady cocked an eyebrow at him and he had to remind himself that he was not as noticeable in his outfit as normal.

“So glad you find my almost debilitating accident funny, mister creeper in the back.” She said turning her back to the class and shedding her cream colored blouse. “Sorry, they require that I look professional while walking through the halls. The shirt was placed haphazardly on her books, and she turned to reveal a Captain America tee, Chris almost choked on his tongue.

“Welcome to Comic Book Writing, I’m professor Renna James, if you call me Professor James, you will be asked to leave and will not return. You may call me Ren, or Renna. Yes I worked hard for title of Professor, no, I don’t want you to call me that.” Chris smiled, he could tell already that he was going to like Renna. She hadn’t put her heels back on and, as she walked around the class handing out the syllabus, Chris noticed her Iron Man socks.

“I’m sure you are all in this class for a reason, whatever it is, I really don’t care. Don’t insult other people's favorite hero, no matter how much you find their choice in favorite to be beneath you. Insulting Captain America, will result in a failing grade, he is by far the best.” The class laughed, but Chris remained silent, something told him, she wasn’t joking.

“Hey,” Renna said, tapping Chris on the shoulder and handing him some papers. “I respect the creepy serial killer look you have going with the sunglasses on in class,” She waved her hand around to indicate the brightly lit classroom. “Mixed with the baseball cap hidden by hooded sweatshirt, It totally works for you. But I’d prefer to see the face of the guy creeping me out in the back of my class. You know, just so that in the afterlife, I can point you out and tell all the angels or what have you, that you’re the one that murdered me.” She stood tapping her sock covered foot and crossed her arms and waited for a response.

Chris didn’t say anything he simply smirked and pulled his glasses down slightly, there was a moment of confusion on Renna’s face, but something sparked behind her eyes and she simply walked away. Chris wasn’t sure if she recognized him or not, but she didn’t ask him to remove his hat or glasses again. In fact, she didn’t say anything to him the rest of the class and Chris didn’t draw anymore attention to himself.

 

Renna watched as her class filed out, happy the first day of teaching the Comic Book class had gone well. She had had to step in to teach the class after the original teacher had quit suddenly in the summer. She had been the logical choice according to the head of her department based solely on the fact that she read comics and was a major fan of all things Marvel. The fact that she knew relatively nothing about actually writing for a comic nor could she draw her way out of a paper bag at gunpoint, had meant nothing. It was ridiculous and she felt completely unprepared for the class but she would get through it. She had at least had the notes from the previous teacher to guide her.

Her back was to the class as she started packing up, her heels hit the floor and she stepped into them, bringing her five foot nothing height to just above five foot two. She rarely wore heels, preferring to keep her less than graceful self flat on the ground. A tap on her shoulder had her spinning around, startled.

“Dear God in heaven above,” She said placing her hand over her heart. “My poor ticker can’t take this class.” She had thought everyone had left. Instead the creeper from the back stood towering over her.

“Oh god, are you really going to kill me?” She asked, the man had looked familiar when he had peered at her over his sunglasses, but she had been unable to place him with just a simple glance. She had decided to leave the guy alone because his behavior and the way he dressed had unsettled her, “I really was just joking.” She said hoping he would laugh at her and be on his way.

“Mrs. James?” The man asked removing the hood and the hat from his head. Renna closed her eyes as the sunglasses came off. 

“Yup, thats me, but really I prefer to go by my first name.” She said opening one eye when the silence stretched for longer than she was expecting. “Oh, sweet baby Jesus,” She said realizing for the first time that Chris Evans was standing in front of her.

He had looked familiar because he was the one celebrity that she took an active interest in knowing more about than any of the other mindless drones. She wasn’t, by any stretch of the imagination a crazed fan, but he was the one person she had found to be worth while and intelligent on the hollywood scene. He had also portrayed her favorite superhero.

It took her a moment to remember that he was just a person, she had time and time again lectured that very thing in her media classes. Trying to make her students understand that an actor, on film or on stage, was nothing more than a person doing a job. She had never actually had to put her words into practice.

Renna took a deep breath and stepped back as much as she could. “What can I do for you, Mr. Evans?” She could have kicked herself for being so formal, so rather than look at the man before her she turned her back to him and continued gathering her things.

“I wanted to talk to you about your book.” Renna’s movements stilled. Whatever reason she had expected him to give her, it had not been that.

“My book?” She said turning around to look at the man before her, meeting him for the first time in the eyes. “What about my book.”

“Can we talk somewhere not so... Open?” She nodded scooping up the rest of her things, professionalism be damned. She wanted out of the classroom and the comfort of her own office. At least then she would be comforted by the fact that she was on her own turf and not caught at a distinct disadvantage.

“Follow me,” she said not bothering to notice if the man was in fact following her. Her office was a few floors up and she chose the stairs to reach her sacred space rather than the elevator. She had already had enough heart stopping experiences for one day, a slow elevator ride would only allow her minor freak out to turn into a full blown panic attack. Instead the stairs allowed her to concentrate on more important things, like not breaking her neck in her heels or not falling up the stairs.

Renna had never been so glad to see her little office. Her secretary stopped her just as she opened the door. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of her name. Renna wasn’t twitchy normally but her day wasn’t going the way she planned. She wanted coffee and silence.

“Ren, your editor called, something about a possible movie deal? I think is what he said.” Renna stopped just before crossing the threshold and looked back at Chris. He smiled, but the rest of the expression was covered by the sunglasses. He had his hat and hood back up.

“Who’s the creeper?” Jerry asked sliding closer to Renna.

“Just a friend,” She said finally walking into her office, “I promise, he’s not an axe murderer, no matter how much he looks like one.” Chris followed her in and looked around before taking a seat in the chair opposite her desk. “Thank you Jerry, I will be sure to call him back.” She shut the door and dropped her bag.

Renna wasn’t what Chris had expected, he wasn’t really sure what he had expected, but she wasn’t it. She was scattered but in an odd way very together. Her office was small and simple, four walls, one with a window, a few bookshelves packed full of books, most looked to be of textbook or learning form but there was one shelf, completely over run with comic books. It was the only shelf that looked to have any order to it, even if it bowed sligthly in the middle from the weight. Though completely haphazard, the comics were grouped together by character and more than likely order number, but Chris couldn’t be sure.

Her walls were white, but movie posters from Errol Flynn to current hung on the wall. The lock clicked and Chris focused his attention on the woman who was in the process of kicking her heels off again. A closet hung open revealing a few blazers, a pair of jeans and a few pairs of shoes, most of which were heels but Renna grabbed the one pair of flats.

“I’m sorry, its the end of my day. I’d typically get changed and leave but...” She hadn’t put the blazer or cream shirt back on, instead she dumped them in the bottom of her closet and kicked the door shut. She sat down in her seat behind her desk, moved a few papers around and finally looked up. Chris smirked, Renna was nervous. He could tell she was trying really hard not to focus on him. He found her endearing. She had clearly recognized him when he had taken the hat and glasses off and he had to admit, he had been impressed with the way she had handled herself, considering seconds before she had thought he was a serial killer.

Renna was petite but her personality made up for her lack of height. When Chris had set out to find the writer of the book he had fallen in love with, he hadn’t had expectations of what the person would be like, what she would look like. Yet still Renna matched none of those non-expectations. The woman before him, in her Captain America shirt, dark blue dress pants, Iron Man socks and flats was like nothing he had ever seen. Her red hair was chin length but she had swept the top into a small ponytail once seated at her desk.

She was younger than Chris by a few years maybe, he wasn’t sure and he wasn’t about the ask. He wasn’t stupid. She wore little to no make up from what Chris could tell and he found he liked that. She was pretty, there was no other way to describe her.

“You wanted to talk about my book?” She said finally looking up, her light blue eyes held a bit of confusion as she fidgeted with a pen.

“Yes. I’ve been trying to get a meeting with you for the better part of three months, but for some reason your publicist, keeps stonewalling me.” It had been so frustrating having doors slammed in his face and walls built to keep him out. All he wanted was to talk to her.

“Why?” she asked, placing her pen on the desk and for the first time since Chris had met her, looked serious.

“I don’t know why!”

“No, why do you want to talk to me about my book?”

“Umm...”

“I’m sorry,” She held up her had to stop Chris from talking, “It’s just hard to believe that anyone would go to such great lengths to talk me about a book. Not that I’m not flattered, but still.

“I want to turn it into a movie,” Chris said simply. Renna sat back in her chair and just looked at Chris, for the first time really looked at him. “I have a buddy, he would love to direct the movie. It would be low budget unless I can get a company to back me. Which honestly I think is why your people are doing what they are doing.” Renna nodded and continued listening as Chris explained his idea. He had never taken a project like this on but he felt the need to make this movie. He had been entranced by the book. The pure beauty of the story and the way it had achieved an unconventional happy ending. It was the kind of passion project he was looking for.

“And you think, your director friend could do this? I don’t want my book to turn into something as jacked up as the Twilight movies. I actually like my characters.”

Chris couldn’t help but laugh, “I think, with you writing the script, we could pull it off.”

Renna laughed, it was a beautiful sound, the first laugh he had heard out of the woman and it was one that had him grinning. “You want me to write the script. I’ve never written a script before.”

“I’ve never actually made a movie. Are we on a learning curve? Hell yeah, but I think we can pull it off.”

Renna smiled, “Thats a hell of a curve, at least tell me your director friend has in fact directed before.” Chris nodded. “I’ve got someone that would be willing to help me learn how to write a script. Holy shit my people are going to kill me if I agree to do this.” The clock on her desk beeped, “Son of a bitch!” Renna leapt to her feet and flew to her door. “Jerry, call the kennel and tell them I’ll be by to pick up Hannah in an hour or so.”

“Sure thing Ren, you know thats going to be a serious charge right?” Renna nodded and closed the door again.

“Sorry about that. I think, before I decide to do this, you need to convince me. I so often find myself jumping into projects without really thinking things through.” Chris could believe that just by the woman’s demeanor. “Why should I go with you and your buddy instead of some big studio that has more money?” Chris was really starting to like the woman, she knew just what to ask.

“I genuinely love your characters and want to see them done the right way. I think with you as the writer of both book and script, it would prevent the loss of pivotal information. So many times the transition from book to film doesn’t work, its hard to find that balance. I truly believe with you writing the script, we could achieve that.”

“Can I think about it?”

“Of course! I’ll be in your comic book class all week.”

Renna put her head down on the desk, rather harder than Chris suspected she meant to. “Oh my god, that class is going to be the death of me.” She whined.

“I have to ask, the Risky Business entrance, is that standard for you? Because, I gotta to say, I’ve never once seen anyone pull off anything quite that awesome.” Renna groaned.

“No, that is not standard,” She said, her voice muffled by the desk. “I was running later than I thought. I’ve never taught the class before. I had wanted to make a good impression by actually being on time.”

“Well, you made an impression all right. I look forward to learning how to write a comic book.” Chris said standing. Renna looked up from her desk and stood as well.

“Yeah, me too.” She said grabbing her purse from the hook in the closet. Chris wanted to ask what she meant, but let it be. “I’ll walk you out, I have to go pick up my dog from the kennel.”

 

The walk across campus was quiet, Renna was trying to figure out what she should do, there were pros and cons to everything, she just needed to decide if the pros outweighed the cons. So far she was pretty sure they did, but she wasn’t ready to commit to anything. Popping the trunk on her car, she tossed her bags in.

“This, is your car?” Chris said, staring opened mouthed at the dark purple and black camaro.

“It is, I’ll see you in class,” She said getting in. The car purred to life and she was off, leaving Chris standing in her empty parking spot, gaping like a fish. A small spark of pride flared in Renna’s chest as she looked in the rearview mirror. Chris was still standing in her spot. Her day hadn’t ended up being so bad.

 

**

 

Renna sat in her favorite cafe sipping her coffee, watching the cursor of her computer move. Words formed instantly even though she wasn’t touching the keyboard.

It had been five days since she had agreed to take on the movie project with Chris and to say life had gotten out of control was an understatement. The people on her end had had a fit that she had decided to sign with an independent film company rather than some large company. Chris had been right, they had stonewalled him because they knew she would pick him over a mainstream company.

Not because of who he was, but what he represented. Chris had seemed truly invested in the project. He had sought her out, going so far as to sit through her class just to talk to her, even after doors had been shut in his face. It was endearing and made her believe that he may actually like the book, not just want to make some money.

Her book had been a sleeper hit. She had never expected it to pick up such rave reviews and hit the bestseller list. All she ever wanted, was for someone to read her words. To maybe like her characters, fall in love with them even. She had never dreamed that the world would fall in love with her story. It had taken her the better part of five years to finish the story, but she had stuck with it and found a company willing to publish it.

Everyday since had been a dream come true and a nightmare too. Her book made headlines and she had gone on signings and other publicity stunts, her people had thought necessary. She had people too. That was even weirder. She had, after her ex had left her, gotten used to the idea of life just being her and Hannah, her Pembroke Welsh corgi. She had never expected to have a publicist, an editor and a few other people whose jobs seemed to be made just to torment her.

She had liked her solitary life, had nothing to complain about. But suddenly every other day she was being requested for interviews and hounded about her next book. It was the price she paid. She liked that people liked her book, but sometimes, she wished she didn’t have people.

“Hey, I thought you were working! You’ve been sitting over here staring at a computer for the last 20 minutes.” Chris slid into the seat across from her and she held up her hand to silence him.

“No, that makes perfect sense, thank you for explaining what I was doing wrong.” The cursor moved across the screen again.

Sure thing, Baby girl, happy to help whenever. :)

Renna smiled, at the message. “I’ll talk to you later, ok mom? Thank you again for helping me understand the script issues.”

Alright, I’ll talk to you later. I love you.

“I love you too.” Renna removed the small device from her ear and ended the chat call she had been in. “Sorry about that, I was on the phone, trying to understand the script writing process.”

“You were on the phone? In here? Its really loud, how could you hear anything?” Renna turned the computer around to show chris the conversation she had been having. The entire conversation had been typed out. Even though she had spoken it. She had used the program many times to help figure out her stories. Her mother was a writer as well and specialized in scriptwriting. It had never been something she cared to learn. she was too long winded for scripts when she had first started writing. It was amazing to her that she sat in a coffee shop trying to cut her own words down.

“Thats awesome. Did you get it figured out?” Renna nodded sipping on her coffee.

“I think I can do this.” She smiled and turned the computer back to face her. Chris beamed and dropped her book on the table.

“Good. I have some ideas.” Renna picked up the battered and beaten copy of her book. The binding was broken, post it notes stuck out from all sides and the inside didn’t look all that different. Whole paragraphs were underlined, highlighted or crossed out, and he had even written in the margins. Renna smiled, running her fingers along the post it notes. Some people would be offended by the way their book had been treated, but not her. She loved every single bit of it because it meant that her words had reached him. Her characters had sparked ideas and questions and made him think.

It had been the only thing she had ever wanted when she had set out to tell the tragic and hopeful story of soulmates lost and fate forever changed. The idea for the story had come to her in a song and had gripped her so tightly she had been unable to ignore it. She had fallen in love with her characters Josiah and Amy. Their tale had played out in black and white as if she had not even been in control of the words.

She knew just by the state of her book that she had chosen the right person to work with. She knew he would take care of her characters and bring them to life in the way they were meant to be.

“I’m all ears.” She said, reading the notes on the stickies and the words within in the margins.

**

The months passed in a haze of words written, too much coffee and more laughter than should have been allowed. Chris had found it easy to work with Renna. She was enthusiastic, and he had found the way to her heart was through coffee. He could achieve almost anything if he had coffee for her. At one point, he had wondered if coffee ran through her veins instead of blood, because of the amount she drank.

He had also found that she got distracted easily, which was not always a good thing when paired with him. He tended to get bored easily and would often come up with ideas of things to do instead of working on the script. He could only sit at a computer for so long before the itch to get out and move overtook him. She had made a deal with him: they would achieve a specific goal each time they worked on the script and then, when that had been met, she would let him go do what he wanted. 

He always managed to drag her along after the goals for the day were achieved. She was always willing to take a chance. She hardly ever said no to his crazy ideas and never held it against him when an idea didn’t work. She was always laughing. Most of the time it was at him, but he didn’t mind. He found that he really liked her laugh, her smile, the way she spazzed out when she was frustrated or stressed. The way she babbled when she was flustered and the way nothing she did could make her stop talking when she was embarrassed. There had been a few times where she had simply walked out of the room, random words coming out of her mouth as she left, leaving Chris to stare in wonder at the strange woman.

“Mother of God, what are you doing here?” Renna said walking out of her room, hair perfectly straight despite having just woken up. Hannah barked and jump up on the couch and sat next to Chris. It was a mark of how comfortable Renna had become around him that she didn’t turned around and flee to her room to change out of her Captain America pajamas. The first time he had seen her in them, he had laughed his ass off and she had run back into her room. When she had come out, fully dressed, she had smacked him while he continued to laugh.

“You know, if you’re going to break into my house, the least you could do is start the coffee maker.” She said pausing to scratch Hannah behind the ears. “How do you get in here anyway?”

He had found a window that didn’t latch fully in his examination of her house the first day he had been there, but he hadn’t told her. He liked to give her hell for thinking he was a murderer the first day they met. One day he snuck into her house and waited on her couch until she woke up. He was pretty sure the only thing that had kept her from killing him had been the white mocha that he had in his hands. He had refused to relinquish her cup until she promised not to physically harm him.

“I’ll never tell.” He said, standing from the couch and following Renna into the kitchen.

“So,” She said taking the cup he offered her, “I think we may have finished the script.” Chris smiled watching Renna pour the little bit of coffee that had already been made into her cup. She was always so impatient when it came to her coffee. “We should celebrate or something. I mean, its not everyday you write something thats going to be made into a movie... Well at least not me.” She said finally filling her cup up and turning to look at Chris.

Chris should have been happy about the script being done, but he couldn’t quite muster up the enthusiasm. Renna cocked an eyebrow and scowled at him over her superhero coffee cup. 

“Alright, no celebration. You can take the script and head off to Hollywood. I’m sure you’ll have a blast casting the movie.” She said walking out of the kitchen leaving Chris confused. He grabbed a cup of coffee for himself and went back into the living room that was completely empty.

Renna exited her room a few moments later dressed in workout clothing and earbuds already in her ears. “I’m going for a run. I’ll... See ya around,” and she left. Chris wasn’t typically clueless. Renna had baffled him from time to time since they had become friends, but he had always been able to see what the problem was with relative ease. He found that he had no idea what the problem was this time.

Chris finished his coffee, put Hannah in her kennel and left the house. He was tempted to get in his car and leave, instead he planted himself on the front steps and waited.

Renna was mad at him, that much he got, but he didn’t understand why. He had seen her angry. Oh boy, had he seen her angry. That had been a sight to see. He had had a meeting with a few people about pitching the script to a larger financial backer than they had. The meeting had ended earlier than he had planned. Instead of waiting back at his place for the call from Renna that she was off, he decided to surprise her with some good news.

He got to her section of the university shortly after Renna’s last class had finished. He heard raised voices from the hall and recognised Renna’s instantly. When he pulled the door open to enter the english department, the shouting grew infinitely louder. The people in the office where taking cover as he approached.

Something crunched under his feet as he made his way to Renna’s office. Chris looked down to see a bouquet of yellow roses on the floor.

“Do you mind not stepping on the flowers? Those are for my girl.”

“Fuck you Shawn, I’m not your girl anymore. You cheated on me! You divorced me! You don’t get to come back around anytime you’re on liberty or leave or whatever the fuck you want to call it, ask me about boyfriends and then treat my friends like shit. You have no say in who I date or what I do with my time. You don’t get to call me your girl anymore. I AM NOT YOUR GIRL.” A Captain America cup when flying passed the guy, Shawn’s, head and smashed on the wall behind him.

Chris stayed where he was. If Captain America memorabilia was being broken, she was angry. She guarded her collection with her life, it was one of the many things he had come to love about her. She was a comic book geek through and through. He knew enough about a woman's wrath to stay out of the line of fire if the fury wasn’t directed at him. He would only get involved if there was a real reason to.

“Get out of here, Shawn,” Renna said, picking up a baseball bat from the umbrella stand outside her office. It didn’t actually hold umbrellas because “I’m from the pacific northwest, only pussies use umbrellas.” She told him when he asked.

“Holy shit,” Chris moved forward and wrapped a hand around the bat and placed himself in front of Renna. Between the bat and the man it was been aimed at. He had seen her in the gym a few times practicing her self defence moves, he was more than sure she could do some real damage with a bat. “Renna, put the bat down. He’s not worth it.” Chris had felt her relax the second he spoke but she was unwilling the let go of the bat.

“Make him leave,” She said looking up at Chris, her eyes bright with sadness.

“You heard her,” Chris said, not taking his eyes off the tiny angry woman in front of him. “I suggest you leave before I let her go. I won’t stop her a second time.” The man named Shawn hesitated for a second. Chris wondered if he really was going to have to let Renna go after the guy. Instead, Shawn turned and walked out. Renna released the bat and sank to the floor.

They didn't get anything done that night. Instead they had stopped on the way back to her place, and picked up pizza and beer. Chris stayed with her the whole night. She stewed in her anger and shouted about what an ass her ex was. Chris couldn’t disagree with her given everything she had told him about the guy. They had watched a few movies that had been on the more violent side and the next morning Renna was back to her normal happy self. Though they were both slightly hung over.

Chris had grown up with sisters, he’d seen them go through breakups and run ins with exs, so he had known the basics of comforting Renna. His sisters had drowned their anger in sweets and romcoms. Renna was a bit different, he hadn't figured she would go for the sweets and chick flick movies, and he had been right.

Renna pissed off was frightening, but the cold shoulder she had given him in the kitchen was downright terrifying. Chris didn’t like Renna being mad at him. He wasn’t someone that really cared when people got mad at him. He was more than willing to tell them all to fuck off and walk away, but something was different when it was Renna.

Renna didn’t treat him like he was special, or a famous movie star. Apart from the first meeting, she had given no real indication that she knew of him, or what he did for a living. She had made it abundantly clear that she didn’t care either. She held him, his work on the script and how he lived his life to the same standard she held everyone else. There was no pedestal for him to stand on, and he was thankful for that. She had put him in his place on more than one occasion. She hadn’t been willing to take his shit and she had no problem calling him on it. She didn’t pull punches. When she had something to say, she fucking said, and loudly. In Chris’s book, Renna James being silent was a bad omen.

He really didn't understand what he had done. He hadn't said anything about celebrating the finishing of the script, mostly because he found he wasn't all that happy about it. He should have been through the roof. They had worked hard over the course of four months to get the perfect draft. It had gone through five or six revisions. Finally they had achieved perfection, yet he wasn't excited.

He had been in Boston for a few months and he had enjoyed every minute. It had been awhile since he had had a chance to be home for so long. He had met up with old buddies and enjoyed time with his family. Over the years, he had gotten used to having to leave them for long periods of time. He lived in L.A, of course he wouldn’t be able to stay. But it felt different this time, something had changed, and he had a feeling it was Renna. 

Chris sat on the steps of Renna's house for about 20 minutes before the tired and worn out woman showed up again.

"What are you still doing here?” Renna asked, stopping in front of Chris, breathing heavy from her run. She had hoped the run would clear her head but it had no effect. She was still mad. She had told herself over and over that when the script was done, Chris would leave and that was that. She had tried to convince herself that she felt nothing for the man that sat on her steps looking gorgeous and sexy and slightly like a kicked puppy.

She wasn’t angry at him. He had no control over her emotions. He had never given her a reason to think that anything but a friendship was in their future, but Renna had a habit of picking the wrong guys.

“Thought you would be headed back to L.A. by now.” She said walking past him and into her house. Chris, to her dismay, followed.

“Can we talk about this? I don’t understand what I’ve done to make you mad.” Renna took a deep breath, she was emotional and that was rarely a good thing. She could feel the prickle of tears and turned away from Chris. He had seen her at her very worst, but she wasn’t going to let him see her act like an emotional basket case.

“Nothing,” her voice hitched slightly. “You’ve done nothing, Chris.” She walked down the hall and closed her door. She didn’t make it to her bed. She simply slid down the door and sat with her knees pulled up, tears flowing from her eyes.

She had known it was coming, knew she was being stupid. She had learned this lesson many times, unrequited love was painful. How many times had she kicked herself for falling for someone that could and would never love her the way she loved them? Too many to count, that was for sure. Each and every time, it had been a painful experience and she had pushed the person away. She couldn’t be friends with someone she loved and not be loved back in the same way. She had realized that with Shawn.

Pushing Chris away was harder than she had imagined it would be. She didn’t want to see him leave. She didn’t want to wake up and not find him sitting on her couch, she didn’t want to miss out on his laughs or his crazy ideas. She wanted him to teach her how to play football and go on runs with her. She loved how no matter how crazy she was acting, he accepted her for everything she was.

He never gave her crap about her comic books or her more than slight Captain America obsession. It had embarrassed her a few times considering his role as the hero. She had fallen in love with Cap as a young girl and that wasn’t about to change because she was suddenly friends with the guy that played him in movies. Chris also fed her coffee addiction and never questioned it.

They argued, sure, but it was never about the really important things. They both got along great, the few friends she had in Boston thought he was amazing, wonderful, and perfect. She wasn’t entirely convinced they had gotten passed the “that’s Chris Evans” aspect of things.

Standing up, she decided a shower would do her good. She was sticky from her run and her face was tear stained. The shower washed away the dirt and grime from the run but it didn't help her emotional state.

Clean and ready for a day of doing nothing, Renna made her bed. Anything to take her mind off of Chris fucking Evans. Her hip hit the bedside table knocking everything over and she swore. The sound of breaking glass caused her to abandon the rest of the blankets and look down. If she believed in symbolism and fate, she would curse at the world. She picked up the one and only framed picture she owned that wasn’t of her dog and sat on her half made bed.

Chris had given it to her after a weekend of hair brained ideas. They had been working nonstop on the third revision and Chris had gotten fidgety, cooped up in the house all the time. He had decided that as the last weekend of Six Flags being open, they NEEDED to go. Renna had flat out refused at first. She was terrified of heights and rollercoasters. She stayed far away from amusement parks because they were a waste of money to her. Chris had used every persuasive argument he could think of, and in the end, it had been his puppy dog eyes and pout that had her caving. It was kind of embarrassing how fast she fell for the pout.

She had spent the weekend being dragged all over the amusement park, dragged on rides that spun and went too high for her sanity. More than a few times she had sat a ride out to keep from puking. The tea cups had been one of Chris’s worst ideas.

She had given in and joined Chris on many rides she typically wouldn’t have gone on simply because he asked. He was like a five year old in a candy store, laughing and jumping around.

The picture she held in her hands was the one and only time he had convinced her to go on a rollercoaster. In the picture, one of her eyes was shut and she was clearly screaming. Chris was laughing and holding her hand. He had taken of her hand the second she had sat down in the seat and hadn’t let go for a second.

The bars locked into place and Renna shut her eyes, “I got you.” He had said.

“I hate you,” She said in response but clutched his hand for dear life.

He simply laughed. “No, you don’t.” And he was right, she didn’t hate him, not even close.

He had bought the picture without her knowing it and had driven home after dropping her off at her house. She had been all too happy to see him go, she had fallen asleep on the couch that night from the pure exhaustion of the day.

The next day he had handed her the framed picture and told her it represented a big moment in her life: The day she gave up her fear. It had represented something else to Renna: that picture, that day, represented the day she had figured out her feelings for him.

No one, in Renna’s 33 years of life, had been able to get her on a rollercoaster. No one but him. She had given in, kicked aside her fear because she felt safe with him next to her. He helped her overcome her fears. He pushed her to new limits and made her be better. 

Renna stood from her place on the bed suddenly. She didn’t need him to be better, she could push herself to overcome fears. She was done being the girl who always hid away, she was done falling for the wrong person. She was awesome, if the idiots she fell for couldn’t see that, then too bad for them.

She threw her door open, intent on getting more coffee and taking Hannah to the dog park. Instead, she crashed into a very solid wall of flesh. He never stopped amazing her. Why he had sat on the step outside her house in the cold winter air was beyond her and even after she had dismissed him for the second time, still he stayed.

She cursed herself for crying, her face felt puffy and she knew her too pale skin was blotchy and red.

Chris glanced down at the broken picture in her hand “It fell off my table when I was making the bed.” Renna said.

“I didn’t leave, because I don’t want to.” He said stilling looking down at the picture. His hand rested on her cheek and he ran a thumb along the soft skin, catching the stray bit of tears she had missed. She had cried when the picture broke.

“I don’t want to celebrate the script being finished, because I’m not happy about it.” Renna was confused, completing the script had been what they had been working towards for so long. “I’m not happy about it, because it means I have to go back to L.A. I have to leave Boston, leave my family, my friends and you. I don’t want to leave... You.”

Chris hadn’t meant to say that. None of that was rehearsed, none of it planned, but all of it was true. He hadn’t realized it until he had followed her down the hall. The door had been slammed shut, but he could hear her crying on the other side of the door. He had never seen her cry, had never seen her sad. He had seen her scared, the picture she held in her hand when she walked out was proof of that. He had seen angry, the whole of the English department had see that. He had seen her happy, frustrated, annoyed, excited, but never sad.

Sad was an emotion he found he hated on her even more than anger. He had somehow caused it, and every part of him wanted to change that. He wanted to see her smile, hear her laugh.

Hearing her cry --the hitch in her voice when she told him that he didn’t do anything-- had broken his heart. He had known then exactly why he wasn’t happy about leaving, about finishing the script. He had somehow managed to fall for the tiny woman who had literally slid into his life.

She had planted her being firmly in his life, his head and his heart. He had not expected that when he had first set out to make the movie. All he wanted was to create the script so that he could move on, finalize the rest of the planning, pay Renna and call it a day. Seven months ago when the idea had struck him, he had not wanted anything more than to make a movie. Suddenly, he didn’t give a damn about the movie, because the woman in the other room was crying and he wanted to make it stop.

He didn’t know why she was crying, or even how to stop it. He had considered leaving after the second dismissal. She was really good at leaving people with their asses in their hands. But the crying had stopped him. He was not going to leave her, not willingly. She would have to physically force him out the door or call the cops. Both of which he had no doubt she would do if she really wanted to. Whenever he doubted how far she would go, he’d remember the baseball bat.

The crying had stopped and he had started to knock on the door but the running water told him she couldn’t hear him. He didn’t hear much of anything after that, until the crash that sounded like broken glass. He had almost broken the door down, until he had heard her curse. Whatever had happened, hadn’t been on purpose. He stood next to the door, listening to sniffles and soft sobs but nothing as heart wrenching as what he had heard earlier.

He felt kind of like a creeper standing outside her bedroom listening to her on the other side. Had it been under different circumstances he would laugh, considering how they had met. Before he had had time to move from her door, it was flung open and Renna, in a soft black pair of yoga pants and purple tank top stood in front of him. Her hair was damp and her eyes a bright blue. Her cute little nose was red from crying and tears clung to her cheeks.

She held the picture from Six Flags in her hand and he knew what had broken. He had loved that picture of her, facing her fear. His hand had hurt so bad after that ride but it had been worth it to see her come alive. She had hummed with energy after that, even if she was also trying to convince herself not to have a heart attack. She had been proud of herself that day and Chris... Looking at that picture, he realized just when his feelings for her had changed. It had been that day, watching her battle her fear, push down whatever told her she couldn’t do it.

The words came rushing out of his mouth before he could stop them, before he had even considered the possible consequences. He hadn’t even had time to stop and wonder if maybe she didn’t have feelings for him, didn’t see him as anything more than the strange guy that wanted to write a script.

His thumb wiped away a new tear from her cheek and he stared at her. Her blue eyes searching his. Without thinking, he bent and captured her lips with his. She froze for only a second before melting into him. Her warm body pressed against his as much as their height difference would allow. The picture in her hand hit the floor as he nudged her lips open with his tongue. Small arms wrapped around his neck and he hoisted her up, his arm under her butt, as her legs wrapped around his waist. Walking backwards, he placed her gently on the half made bed and crawled up her body to stare at her.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he said, running his nose along her jaw and kissing down her neck. He nibbled her collarbone and slipped the strap of her tank top down, following its path with kisses.

“Chris, we can’t... I can’t.” She said pushing on his chest. Her voice was soft and quiet and held a pleading quality to it. Chris rolled off of her and breathed deep.

“Sorry, got a little carried away.” Renna laughed and rolled to the side so that she was facing Chris. He wanted to get inside her head, to know what she was thinking. She kissed him on the nose and pulled back to look in his eyes.

“I’m sorry about the way I acted. It’s kind of what I do. I push people away so I don’t get hurt.” Chris nodded, it was a simple enough explanation that he could understand and accept. But he wasn’t going to let her do that with him. He didn’t want to run away from her, and he hoped she wouldn’t run from him. He was scared, a relationship wasn’t something he had planned on or expected. He didn’t have the best track record. If she could find it within her to get on that fucking roller coaster, when every ounce of her was saying don’t fucking do it, he could find away to make whatever he and Renna could be, work.

Renna hadn’t wanted to push him away, to stop him, to say no, that she couldn’t. She hadn’t been with anyone but her ex, ever. She was scared, and worried that she wouldn’t be good enough for the man laying next to her. She didn’t have a large pile of insecurities, she had managed to fix most of the issues her ex had created with years of therapy. She wasn’t ashamed of it, she believed in doing what was right for her body, mind and soul.

Sex, and even more to the point, relationships, were still a spot she hadn’t fully worked out. Her ex and her were highschool sweethearts. When they graduated, he joined the military. They had been in the service for many years, had moved around and lived in different countries. She had thought she liked that life.

He had gotten out, found a job in Boston and she had gone back to school. She thought life was great until one day she came home and found him with another woman in their bed. It had been an eye opener and not one she enjoyed.

Shortly after that, he filed for divorce, re-enlisted and vanished. Periodically he came back to mess with her head, treat her like shit, remind her that no one could ever love her and that she was nothing without him. It took all of her strength not to give in to him, to believe his words. The last time he had shown up, Chris had been there. He was the only reason she had been able to break the wall of pain Shawn’s words caused.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to open herself up to that again. She had feelings for Chris and if his declaration to her in the hall and the kiss were anything to go by, he had some feelings for her. She just wasn’t sure what kind of feelings they were. She didn’t want to be a notch in a belt, a forgotten weekend or a woman hidden away from the world.

She very much understood what it was like to be a female in the company of Chris Evans, movie star. Her face had shown up on a few tabloids in their many outings. The world speculated to the nature of Chris and his mystery girl’s relationship. Neither one of them had explained to the blood hungry parasites what exactly they were to each other.

Renna’s life had been in a constant state of confusion since Chris showed up, and she had enjoyed every minute of it. She wasn’t about to let a little fear stand in her way. If Chris was by her side, she’d be ok. She didn’t know how she knew that or why she believed it so fiercely, but she did. Whatever storms were headed their way, she would weather them, if he was at her side.

**

Strong arms held Renna firm and she listened to the soft beat of Chris’s heart, her head moved slightly with every breath he took. They had finished the script three days previous and sent it off to the production company and the director, just to get the final thumbs up. They had gotten that thumbs up yesterday and Renna’s job on the movie had officially ended. Chris was leaving for L.A and casting. They would be filming the movie on location in Texas for six weeks during the spring and Renna, if she was lucky, would be down there to see some of it.

She hadn’t slept well the night before, and Chris hadn’t helped. He had kept her up talking about all the actors and actresses he could see playing the characters in her book. It made her smile to know that he had thought about it. It had been interesting to hear who he had envisioned as the main characters.

When she wrote the book, she had had a few set actors she could see playing her characters, any author that says they didn’t was lying in Renna’s opinion. 

The alarm sounded and Chris sighed, smashing the annoying thing with his large hand. Renna tilted her head so that she could look up at Chris and frowned. He had shut his eyes again.

“Time to get up,” she said, poking him in the side.

Twisting on his side to face her, he wrapped his arms more firmly around her. “I don’t want to.” He said burying his face in her hair.

“I know, but the sooner you leave, the sooner you can come back.” Her voice was slightly muffled in his chest, and he laughed.

“I don’t understand your logic, but for the sake of both our sanities, I will agree to believe it.” She smiled against his chest, placed her open mouth on his skin and softly blew, causing the area of skin to heat up. Chris squirmed, releasing her from his grip and got out of bed.

“That is the best and worst way to wake up. You know that don’t you?” She giggled watching him walk into the bathroom.

“You love it.” She called as he went. The bathroom door shut and she sat up.

She wasn’t ready for him to leave, for her life to return to relative normal, but like all good things, it had to come to an end. She stood up, got dressed and let Hannah out back for a morning potty. The coffee had just finished brewing when Chris came out, his suitcase rolling behind him. Renna sighed and passed him his cup. He had stolen one of her coffee cups and dubbed it his for all times.

“Got everything?” She asked sipping her coffee.

“Nope, I left a hoodie and a few shirts behind. Gives me a reason to come back.” He kissed her and poured his coffee.

“Cuz, I’m not enough of a reason.” She laughed, not actually offended by his words. She was already planning on using his shirts as pajamas.

“Oh, you very much are, but it means you’ll actually have to let me in, so that I can get them back.”

“Or, I could throw them at you while Hannah growls at you, making you stay on my front porch. Banned from my house.” Chris laughed.

“Either way, I get to see you.” Renna shook her head and moved to the sink to rinse her cup.

“Can you let Hannah in?” She asked and Chris nodded.

The few dishes done, Renna walked out of the kitchen, it was time to go and she needed to put Hannah in the kennel.

“I have to go, but I promise I’ll be back. Maybe next time, you’ll get to meet my puppy, I bet you’ll like him.” Chris said, scratching Hannah behind the ears. “He’s a lot bigger than you, but I bet you’ll kick his ass. Kind of like your mom, huh?” Renna cleared her throat and Chris picked up Hannah and put her in the kennel. Renna watched Chris and smiled. She loved the way he treated her dog.

“Alright, lets go.” Renna follow him out, popped the trunk on her car and locked the front door. She could do this. Tossing the keys to Chris, she hopped in the passenger seat. Chris caught the keys and stared at them. He had been begging to drive her car pretty much since he had met her, but she had been unwilling to let anyone drive her baby.

“Get in before I change my mind.” Chris slid in without a single word and started the car.

The trip to Logan was silent, neither one of them had much to say. Renna was feeling more depressed the closer they got to airport.

“Come with me.” Chris said as he stood in the line getting ready to go through security. “We can go down to the ticket stand, trade mine in, buy you one and we can go back together.” Renna wanted to, she really did, but finals were coming and she had lessons to plan for the next term.

“I have a job Chris, I can’t just leave. Maybe I can come out after finals.” Chris pulled her in for a hug and huffed.

“Hire a sub for the rest of the term. Come on, please?” He pouted, looking down at her. He knew his pout was a weak link for her, but she honestly couldn’t go. No matter how much she wanted to.

“Its your turn,” she said pushing him away, but not before he captured her lips in a soft kiss.

“Call me when you land, let me know you got there safe, ok?” He nodded and walked away, placed everything on the belt and went through the detectors. Renna could feel the tears forming, she was never very good at goodbyes. She watched him gather his stuff and then turned to walk away, she turned around just once before she left. He was watching her, she waved goodbye and the tears started to flow.

Chris watched her walk away, his heart hurting a little more with each step she took, each inch further away she got. He couldn’t believe the turn his life had taken. When he set out to create a script, he had expected to make a script and maybe a friend. He had not expected to fall for a feisty redhead comic book nerd (her words).

For the first time in a long time he found a reason not to go back to his life out west. For the first time, he wanted to hang it all up and live a normal life with a girl who deserved to have everything she wanted. He shouldn’t have asked her come with him, that was selfish. Of course she had a job she couldn’t walk away from. He had seen her teach, seen her inspire her students and how ecstatic she got in class. She was passionate about all her students, took the time to learn each one of them by name, and made it a point to help the ones that fell behind. She would not simply leave them behind no matter how big of a pout he gave her.

He didn’t like the idea of long distance relationships. It had never worked well for him in the past, but with the amount of technology out that would allow them to at least see and talk to each other, he was willing to give it a try. Renna had a long winter break coming, he would try and talk her into coming out west for some of it.

He didn’t like it, but long distance was just going to have to work until they figured something else out. He knew they would figure it out though, Renna wasn’t one to give up easily and he wouldn’t either.

**

 

Renna stood sipping her coffee, staring out at the completely empty park. She loved the fall, it was cool and the air was crisp. The leaves were changing colors and the clouds hung low, a soft mist hitting her face. Boston in the fall was one of the most beautiful places she had ever had the fortune to live. She would miss it, but her life had taken a different path recently and she was excited to start fresh.

She looked down at her finger and smiled, the beautiful emerald and diamond ring stuck out on her plain hand, she had never in a million years expected to find herself engaged again. Her life had been so simple before he showed up. It had consisted of getting up, walking her dog, going to work, writing, correcting assignments and dealing with smart mouthed students that thought they were adults because they were no longer in high school. Most of the time, she enjoyed her life and her job, but there had been those odd times when she had longed for more.

She couldn’t believe it had been a year since she had met Chris, couldn’t imagine what her life would be like, if he wasn’t in it. She never wanted to let him go. He was sweet and kind and thoughtful. He was loud and passionate, abrasive, crass and crude, and she loved every bit of him. He never gave her a bad time for speaking her mind or putting people in their place. He typically stepped back and watched as the people who made her angry cowered and wet themselves until she dismissed them. He never wanted her to be a wallflower, he loved that she was loud and abrasive too.

It hadn’t been an easy year, that was for sure. They’d technically only been dating for eightish months but they had persevered through some wicked tabloids, no thanks to her ex-husband. Being away from each other wasn’t easy either. She had done it for years with Shawn on deployments and it never seemed that bad, but she figured that had more to do with the difference in the relationships. She was thankful for video chats and cell phones. At least she still got to hear his laugh.

She had started looking at teaching positions on the west coast just to be closer and she had found an opening in the English department at UCLA. She was over the moon excited but hadn’t told anyone that she was looking at leaving. She had flown to L.A. for the interview under the guise that she was just going to visit her boyfriend. It wasn’t that far fetched, she did stay with Chris that weekend. Chris had just finished the shoot in Texas for the movie and was working press junkets for it while she was interviewing for a new job.

Chris had wanted to keep the movie relatively low profile, but once word got out that they had turned her book into a script and that the script had been written by the author, the big production companies came out, offering to fund the production. They had already had a company backing them though. They all knew a book as popular as her’s was something to get behind. She and Chris had decided to stay relatively indie, but it was nice to have a backer that could get you press junkets and a red carpet premier.

“REN!” Renna turned around, a smile on her face, before she could say anything she was scooped up and spun around. The shock of the sudden flight caused her to shriek and drop her coffee.

“Chris!” She yelled as he kissed her on the cheek and put her down. “You jerk, you made me drop my coffee.” She stared down at her coffee, the ground soaking up her nectar of the gods.

“Sorry babe, I’ll buy you another.” He said wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder.

“But you don’t understand! It was the perfect cup. Not too sweet, not burnt or bitter. Perfect! I hate you.” She crossed her arms and pouted.

Chris laughed and pulled her tight against him, “No, you don’t. You love me.”

Renna huffed, but leaned into him, “I’m still not sure why.”

“I’m pretty sure its because of the awesome sex.” Renna reached back and cuffed him around the head, but laughed and shook her head. “Come on, lets get you more coffee. The truck just left with your stuff and we have to go get Hannah from my mom’s before we get to the airport. Lots to do.” Chris grabbed her hand and tried to pull, but Renna didn’t move.

“Farewell, my comrade in arms. You were a faithful cup of coffee. You have made your bean brothers proud.” Renna said, still looking down at the spilled coffee.

“Seriously? A eulogy for a coffee?” She looked at him with her sad eyes and he sighed and came to stand next to her. He cleared his throat, “Here lays....” he looked at Renna, waiting for her to respond.

“Gus,” She said simply.

“Gus?” She nodded. “Here lay Gus, faithful coffee and devoted caffeinated beverage, whose addictive powers were snuffed out before his time, by a thoughtless act of PDA.” Renna laughed and smacked Chris in the arm.

“Alright, coffee killer, I demand repayment.” She said dragging Chris behind her. A man that would stand beside her and deliver a eulogy to her fallen coffee was a man she planned to keep around for a long time. He never stopped amazing her and she loved every second of it.

Chris walked out of the coffee shop with two coffees in his hand and gave them both over to her. Renna grinned and kissed him. He was far too good for her, but she was happy he disagreed.

The next chapter in her life was beginning and she couldn’t wait to see what wondrous adventures life would take her on with him beside her.


End file.
